Gaara
Gaara is a shinobi of Sunagakure. He was made the jinchūriki of the One-Tailed Shukaku before he was born, causing the villagers of Suna to fear him as a monster. With nobody to connect to, Gaara grew up hating the world and looking out only for himself, justifying his own existence by killing anyone he came across. After being defeated in battle by Naruto Uzumaki — a jinchūriki like himself who found strength in his friendships — Gaara starts emulating Naruto. He becomes Suna's 5th Kazekage so that he can protect the village and all those who live there, in the process dispelling the villagers' and the rest of the world's fears of him. Background Because of heavy cuts to Sunagakure's budget, Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, wanted to make one of his children the jinchūriki of the One-Tailed Shukaku. His first two children, Temari and then Kankurō, had not been compatible with Shukaku. Rasa's third child, who would become Gaara, was compatible, and for that reason Shukaku was sealed into him by Chiyo while he was still in his mother's womb. Gaara ended up being born prematurely and, from the ordeals of childbirth, his mother, Karura, died. Before dying, Karura looked lovingly at Gaara's small form and vowed to always protect him. Gaara was raised in isolation during his early life, taught ninjutsu by his father and cared for by his maternal uncle, Yashamaru. When he was allowed to roam around the village, Gaara would try to connect with the villagers, being kind to them and offering them any assistance he could. However, being a jinchūriki made the villagers frightened of Gaara; adults avoided him and, when they couldn't, treated him delicately while children would run from him on sight. Gaara would try to assure them he meant no harm, but in the process would inadvertently injure or even kill them with his sand. Gaara did not understand this pain he caused others because his sand protected him from all injury. When he was six years old, Gaara asked Yashamaru to explain pain to him. From Yashamaru's explanation, Gaara believed he did know pain: the unbearable agony in his heart. Personality Gaara was consistently warm to others during his early life. Although most of Suna's villagers feared and despised him, he was able to persevere due to the love that he felt from Yashamaru and his mother. His father, Rasa, believed these niceties were impeding Gaara's development as a jinchūriki and as such had both taken from him: he ordered Yashamaru to try and kill Gaara and, if he were to fail, to tell Gaara that neither he nor Gaara's mother had ever loved him. Rasa's plan succeeded, as following Yashamaru's death Gaara stopped trying to connect with people. Rather, Gaara focused on himself, driven solely by his own desires and his own survival. During his years of caring only about himself, Gaara becomes infamously known as "Gaara of the Sand Waterfall." Though he outwardly appears calm, "Gaara of the Sand Waterfall" is deeply unbalanced, completely unmoved by others' pleas for mercy and, in certain situations, driven mad with bloodlust. This behaviour is partly due to Shukaku, whose voice Gaara alone can hear in his head, who encourages violence at every opportunity, and who torments Gaara with threats to take control of his body if he falls asleep, thus making Gaara an insomniac. But Shukaku is not wholly responsible: Gaara simply hates other people for existing, believing that so long as they are alive they are a threat to his own life. His purpose, therefore, is to kill anyone who is strong or who he perceives as similar to himself, as only by killing them can he assert his own existence. With those who do not interest him, Gaara is typically withdrawn and silent. When he must interact with them, he does so with open disregard for their feelings and often threatens to kill them, even his own siblings, if they become too much of a nuisance to him. Abilities Gaara has large chakra reserves, a fact Akamaru recognises even before Gaara has performed any jutsu. His chakra levels are partly because he is the jinchūriki of Shukaku, but even after Shukaku is removed from his body in Part II, there is no noticeable difference in the jutsu he is able to perform. In combat, Gaara tends to stay away from his opponents and for this reason he rarely uses taijutsu. In the anime, he acknowledges that this is a shortcoming and therefore trains with Shira to improve his abilities.16 In the novelisation of Boruto: Naruto the Movie, Kinshiki Ōtsutsukiregards Gaara's taijutsu as highly as he does the taijutsu of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Darui, stating that their skill in this particular style of combat is "first-class". In the anime, Gaara is shown to be practised with several different ninja weapons, enough that he can identify the jōhyōas comparatively less lethal and then teach Matsuri how to wield it. His nature transformations include Earth, Lightning, and Wind Release,5 the latter of which he often mixes with his sand in order to increase its speed and coverage area. In Gaara Hiden, Gaara is shown to have inherited the Magnet Release kekkei genkai from his father, which he avoids using in battle so that he can have it as a last resort that opponents won't know about. He can use his Magnet Release to increase the density of his chakra and sand, thereby strengthening his defenses. As Shukaku's jinchūriki, Gaara is able to manipulate sand. He carries a supply of sand wherever he goes in a gourd, which itself is made from sand. This personal sand is infused with his own chakra, allowing him to deploy it faster and manipulate it more precisely. If he needs more sand, he can either use sand from the surroundings or, if there isn't any, use his personal sand to break down minerals in the ground to create some; these secondary sand supplies require more chakra to control. Gaara's ability to manipulate sand remains even after Shukaku is removed from his body. Indeed, the Fourth Kazekage, upon seeing how much sand Gaara can control at once, wrongly assumes it is Shukaku itself doing so, not Gaara. In combat, Gaara's usual tactic is to remain stationary, using his sand to attack opponents from afar. The attacks typically follow the same formula: capture and immobilise the the target, such as with the Sand Binding Coffin, and then crush all or parts of their body, such as with Sand Waterfall Funeral. If opponents are able to get close enough to attack him, Gaara's Shield of Sand automatically protects him from all threats, even those he is not aware of; the Shield of Sand is commonly thought to be Shukaku's doing, an act of self-preservation, but it is actually Gaara's mother, Karura, whose love protects Gaara even after her death. If the Shield of Sand is penetrated, either through speed or brute-force, Gaara also has a secondary Armour of Sand covering his body; it is chakra-taxing to maintain and weighs him down. Nevertheless, Gaara's sand is extremely effective at keeping him safe, earning fame as an "absolute defence" and allowing him to go years without experiencing a single injury. By adulthood, Gaara's Shield of Sand's defence increased tremendously, able to shrug off attacks that Sasuke Uchiha's Majestic Attire: Susanoo could not. Jinchuriki The One-Tailed Shukaku is a very valuable resource in battle but, like all tailed beasts, becoming able to use it effectively takes a great deal of time and effort on Gaara's part. During their first conversation when Gaara was a child, Shukaku warned Gaara that it would take control of his body and start killing people if he ever fell asleep, preventing Gaara from getting a full night's sleep for the duration of his time as a jinchūriki. Even while awake, Shukaku's powers were a constant risk, causing the young Gaara to inadvertently kill those around him and, in moments of particular stress, unleash Shukaku upon Suna. Gaara is able to keep Shukaku in check under normal circumstances by Part I. Like all jinchūriki, Gaara can transform into his tailed beast. Whereas other jinchūriki achieve this transformation using only chakra, Gaara does so using sand: by layering sand onto parts of his body, he transforms those body parts into human-sized versions of Shukaku's. The more of his body that is transformed in this way, the more his speed and strength increases. As a consequence, however, Shukaku's personality starts influencing hi s own the more advanced the transformation, making Gaara increasingly homicidal; he has seemingly mastered the transformation enough by Part II that he can at least create Shukaku's arms without this happening. In the final stage, Gaara creates a full-sized Shukaku form, which he ordinarily remains safely deep within. By emerging from the form and putting himself to sleep, Gaara can transfer control of the body to Shukaku itself. Naruto Gaara and his siblings are teamed together under Baki's leadership and sent to Konohagakure to participate in the Chūnin Exams. Shortly after arriving, Kankurō nearly starts fighting Team 7, forcing Gaara to threaten to kill him if he doesn't leave them alone. Sasuke Uchiha is impressed by Gaara and asks his name; Gaara is impressed by Sasuke and asks the same of him. After they exchange names, Gaara and his siblings depart. During the first stage of the Chūnin Exams, Gaara uses his Third Eye to copy the answers from others participants' written tests. The proctor, Ibiki Morino, though he notices that Gaara must be cheating, can't actually tell what he's doing and is therefore deeply impressed. Because neither he nor his siblings are caught cheating, they advance to the second stage. For the second stage, Gaara and his siblings enter the Forest of Death with the task of collecting a set of two scrolls, one of which they are given and the other of which they must take from another team. They encounter Team Shigure first and, despite not knowing which scroll they have, Gaara insists on fighting them. He quickly kills Shigure with his Sand Waterfall Funeral, prompting Shigure's team-mates to surrender their scroll in exchange for their lives. Gaara kills them too and makes to also kill the members of Team 8, who are secretly watching. Despite Gaara's threats to kill them if they interfere, Kankurō and Temari convince him to desist and they leave Team 8 unharmed. They ultimately reach the centre of the forest with the two scrolls they need in a record-breaking one hour and thirty-seven minutes. Moreover, Gaara doesn't get so much as a speck of dust on his clothes, something the proctors remark is nearly impossible even for more experienced ninja. In the preliminary rounds, Gaara is matched against Rock Lee. Though Lee is quite fast, Gaara's Shield of Sand is faster and blocks all of Lee's attacks. With encouragement from his instructor, Might Guy, Lee removes the ankle weights he wears, therefore making him faster than the Shield of Sand and allowing him to hit Gaara, the first person to ever do so. Lee lands several additional blows, causing Gaara's Armour of Sand to start chipping away, exposing an excited expression beneath. With Guy's permission, Lee attacks Gaara with Front Lotus, but during a brief spasm of pain Gaara is able to escape and attack Lee with his sand. Lee fends off the attack and counters with his strongest move: Reverse Lotus. Due to the speed of the Reverse Lotus, Gaara loses his Shield of Sand and parts of his Armour of Sand are broken away. However, he is able to use his sand gourd as a cushion for the attack, therefore avoiding any noticeable damage. Lee, however, has difficulty moving afterwards and is left at Gaara's mercy, who uses his sand to crush Lee's arms and legs. Guy intervenes, and from seeing Guy's concern for Lee - an emotion Gaara doesn't understand - Gaara opts to leave Lee alone. Gaara is declared the winner and, after the preliminaries conclude, he is informed that his first opponent in the finals taking place in a month will be Sasuke Uchiha. That night, Gaara is attacked by Dosu Kinuta, another finalist who wants to kill Sasuke himself. Gaara briefly transforms into Shukaku and kills Dosu. Konoha Crush During the following month, Gaara and his siblings are informed of Suna and Otogakure's plans for an invasion of Konoha, set to begin during the Chūnin Exams' final matches. Once the invasion starts, Gaara is to transform into Shukaku and attack the village from within while Suna and Oto's forces invade. The day before the finals, Gaara tracks down Lee at the Konoha Hospital and attempts to kill him, but he is found and stopped by Shikamaru Nara and Naruto Uzumaki. Gaara isn't intimidated by their superior numbers and threatens to kill them too, explaining that it is by killing others, particularly those who are strong, that he asserts his own existence. He briefly explains his past and how he came to arrive at this motivation for living, which convinces Naruto that they can't beat Gaara. Guy interrupts them before a fight can break out and Gaara is forced to withdraw. Gaara is eager to fight Sasuke, having noticed that Sasuke, like himself, is driven by hate and who may therefore be the greatest challenge Gaara has ever faced; by killing Sasuke, Gaara's reason for living would be indisputable. However, Sasuke does not show up for their match on time and, when he does finally arrive, Gaara is on edge. Midori and Shiba intercept Gaara as he heads down to the arena to face Sasuke and ask him to take a fall in the fight; Gaara kills them without warning, briefly slaking his bloodlust. His fight with Sasuke starts and Gaara is surprised to find Sasuke's speed and movements are almost identical to Lee's and, as such, bypass his defences in much the same way. Gaara surrounds himself with sand so that Sasuke's punches and kicks can't disturb him as he prepares to transform into Shukaku. However, Sasuke pierces through the sand with his Chidori, injuring Gaara's arm. Gaara is frightened to see his own blood for the first time and cancels the transformation. Gaara is so unnerved by his injury that he is unable to participate as planned in the invasion of Konoha when it begins in the middle of his fight with Sasuke. Baki instructs Temari and Kankurō to take him back to Suna. As they carry Gaara away from Konoha they are confronted by Sasuke, who wants to finish their fight. Kankurō tries to delay him, but this fails and when Sasuke catches up with them again Gaara flings Temari away so that she won't interfere. Gaara transforms his right arm into Shukaku's, who has been causing Gaara ongoing discomfort because of the earlier cancelled transformation. When Sasuke is able to counter Gaara's increased speed and strength with another Chidori, Gaara manifests Shukaku's tail. Sasuke counters this too, but is left unable to move afterwards. Gaara is stopped from killing Sasuke by the arrival of Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto doesn't recognise Gaara at first, but when he does he attempts to retreat. Gaara goes after Sasuke again but is blocked by Sakura Haruno, who reminds Gaara of Yashamaru. Startled by this, Gaara binds her to a tree with his sand. Because Naruto can't break Sakura free, he decides to stay and fight so that he can save her and Sasuke. Gaara advances his transformation yet again and attacks with Sand Shuriken, hoping to draw out the same surprising power that Naruto displayed during his earlier match in the finals. Naruto endures several rounds of attacks and even tries attacking Gaara's un-transformed quarters with One Thousand Years of Death, but is ultimately forced to tap into his power sourceto create hundreds of shadow clones. The clones' onslaught surprises and overwhelms him, forcing him to fully transform into Shukaku. Gaara tries to kill Naruto with Sand Waterfall Funeral, which Naruto escapes by summoningGamabunta. Gamabunta uses his sword to cut off one of his transformation's arms, exciting Gaara. Because of how strong Naruto has proven to be, Gaara puts himself to sleep to transfer control of his body to Shukaku. After prolonged fighting, Gamabunta is able to get Naruto close enough to punch Gaara and wake him up, suppressing Shukaku. Gaara forces Naruto away with his sand, but Naruto quickly strikes again. Gaara is able to restrain Naruto's arms and legs, but Naruto is able to head-butt him, doing enough damage to force the release of the Shukaku transformation. Both Gaara and Naruto are exhausted from the fight, but have enough energy for one last exchange. They leap at each other and Naruto punches Gaara again, claiming victory. Naruto and Gaara fall to the ground, unable to move. Gaara can't comprehend how Naruto can be so strong and is troubled by what this loss means for his existence. When Naruto starts crawling towards him, Gaara screams at him to stay away. Naruto, however, only sympathises with Gaara, having had a childhood that was just as lonely as Gaara's was. However, Naruto was able to find friends like Sasuke and Sakura, and for their companionship he will do anything to protect them, even if that means he has to kill Gaara. Gaara is amazed that Naruto's strength derives from his love for his friends and admits defeat. Temari and Kankurō collect him and start carrying him home; along the way, Gaara apologises to them. Sasuke Recovery Mission After the invasion of Konoha ends in failure, Konoha and Suna becomes allies, both having been wronged by Orochimaru. As a sign of this alliance, Konoha later requests Suna's help in stopping Sasuke from defecting to Orochimaru. Suna sends Gaara and his siblings to help the Sasuke Recovery Team in their fights with the Sound Four; Gaara arrives to save Rock Lee from Kimimaro. Kimmimaro's abilities would have allowed him to defeat Gaara and Rock Lee, however, due to a preexisting illness, he died in battle and Gaara and Lee survived. Naruto Shippuden Two-and-a-half years after the end of Part I, the Suna Council discusses reports from Jiraiyaof Konoha about Akatsuki's likely imminent activity. Because Akatsuki will undoubtedly come after Gaara because of the One-Tailed Shukaku sealed within him, Suna places its borders under heavy guard. While working in his office later, Gaara looks out the window and sees a non-native bird flying in the sky. Guessing it's an intruder, Gaara confronts the bird's rider: Deidara of Akastuki. Gaara attacks Deidara with the sand surrounding Suna and at the same time uses his personal supply of sand to defend against Deidara's Explosive Clay. Gaara uses his personal sand to crush Deidara's left arm, prompting him to drop his C3 on Suna. Gaara defends the village with his Air Sand Protective Wall and narrowly blocks another set of Deidara's C1 explosives. As he regroups within his Shield of Sand, he discovers that Deidara has managed to sneak some explosives into his personal supply of sand, which detonate at point-blan k-range. Before he loses consciousness, Gaara moves the sand he's been using during the fight away from Suna so that it won't fall on the villagers. Deidara captures him and takes him back to an Akatsuki lair, where for three days Akatsuki's members extract Shukaku from Gaara's body. As the extraction nears completion, Gaara sees a lonely vision of himself that he is increasingly unable to recognise. Gaara dies when Shukaku is removed from his body. Naruto and his team are able to retrieve him from the Akatsuki, but they can't revive him conventionally. Chiyo trades her life for Gaara's using the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu; her way of apologizing for sealing Shukaku into Gaara in the first place. As life returns to him, Gaara sees a vision of himself, once alone and unknowable, befriended by Naruto. He wakes up to find himself not only surrounded by Naruto and his team, but also his siblings and the dozens of other Suna-nin that have been tirelessly trying to find and rescue him. When he learns what Chiyo did for him, Gaara forces himself to stand and requests that everyone pray for her. They attend Chiyo's funeral a few days later and, before Naruto and his team leaves, Gaara uses his sand to shake Naruto's hand in place of saying goodbye. Five Kage Summit The Fourth Raikage calls for a Kage Summit to discuss Akatsuki's recent activity. On receiving the summons, Gaara travels to the Land of Iron with Temari and Kankurō as his bodyguards. Once the Kage are all together, Gaara opens the proceedings by discussing his own experiences with Akatsuki and his previous efforts to collaborate with the other Kage, efforts that only the Fifth Hokage helped with. The other Kage offer their own excuses for why they didn't help, but the Fourth Raikage's accusation that the current Kage and their predecessors employed Akatsuki stands out. Gaara is disgusted by the news, which the Third Tsuchikage argues he can't understand simply because he's too young. Zetsu interrupts the Summit with news that Sasuke Uchiha, who has been collaborating with Akatsuki, has infiltrated the Summit. The Fourth Raikage goes off to find Sasuke, and the other Kage bicker while he's gone. Gaara becomes pessimistic that the Kage will be able to work together since his peers seem too willing to give up, qualities that he, because of Naruto's influence, cannot respect. Gaara leaves to meet with Sasuke, arriving in time to stop him and the Raikage from injuring each other too badly. While the Raikage's wounds are treated, Gaara speaks with Sasuke, remarking that he possesses the same hate that drove him the last time they met. Gaara uses his own experience with hate to advise Sasuke to turn back while he still can, as no good can come from his present actions. Sasuke refuses. Saddened by Sasuke's response, Gaara joins Temari, Kankurō, and Darui in attacking him. Sasuke uses Susanoo to defend himself and destroy the room to cover his escape to another room. Eventually all the kage reconvene in the meeting room where they are confronted by Tobi, the leader of the Akatsuki. Tobi explains his Eye of the Moon Plan to those in attendance and requests that the Kage surrender Naruto and Killer B to him to complete the plan. Gaara and the other Kage refuse, prompting Tobi to declare the start of the Fourth Shinobi World War before departing. The Kage agree to form an Allied Shinobi Forces; although they want Konoha to join, the Kage do not trust the Sixth Hokage Candidate and will require someone else to represent Konoha. Gaara recommends Kakashi Hatake, who the other Kage agree with. Fourth Shinobi World War Gaara is made commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces' Fourth Division, as well as the commander-in-chief of all the other combat divisions. When some of the shinobi from different villages start fighting over past grudges, Gaara uses his sand to break them up. He then delivers a speech to the assembled forces, asking that they set aside the factors that once set them apart and focus on what now unifies them: stopping Akatsuki. The Allies are inspired by his words and mobilise for battle. The battle against the Akatsuki's army was great. With the shinobi forces even being forced to battle reanimated ninja from throughout history. Rasa, Gaara's father, was among the reanimated shinobi and Gaara was forced to confront him. Gaara launches the first attack with his sand, which Rasa counters with his gold dust. When Rasa sees Gaara, he is surprised to find that Gaara has not transformed into Shukaku, having assumed he had based on the amount of sand he was controlling. Gaara informs him that Shukaku was removed from his body, but that his life was saved by the many friends he's made in his capacity as Kazekage; he adds that, as Kazekage, he now understands all of Rasa's attempts to assassinate him and forgives him. Rasa finds this all very strange and asks that Gaara fight him so that he can see how Gaara has grown. After several exchanges, Gaara surrounds Rasa and the other Kage with sand, which takes the form of Gaara's mother, Karura. Gaara is surprised to see his mother. Rasa, accepting defeat, explains that the sand that has always protected him was not Shukaku's doing but rather his mother's, because she loved Gaara from the moment he was born. He confesses that he forced Yashamaru to try and kill Gaara all those years ago and to lie to him about his mother in order to test Gaara's emotional suitability as a jinchūriki. Gaara cries at the news and Rasa apologises for not being as good a parent to Gaara as his mother was. Gaara places sealing tags on the Kage's sand confinements, but all except Rasa escape. The other Kage are eventually defeated and Madara Uchiha is summoned. Madara fights the gathered forces and eventually the 5 kage, defeating them all. Later on, the entire army of shinobi forces are gathered for one final battle against Madara, Obito, and the Ten Tails. Despite Naruto and Sasuke's efforts, they are unable to stop Madara from casting the Infinite Tsukuyomi, trapping the world in a dream. Gaara dreams that he has a happy childhood in Suna with his parents, siblings, and Yashamaru and where he gets to play with Naruto everyday. Naruto and Sasuke eventually release the Infinite Tsukuyomi, freeing Gaara and the rest of the world and thus ending the Fourth Shinobi World War. Post Shippuden The relationship between the hidden villages improves over the following thirteen years and Gaara becomes close with a new generation of Kage. He has also become the adoptive father of a young man named Shinki. Gaara and the other Kage observe the final round matches of the Chūnin Exams taking place in Konoha (during the Boruto era). When Kinshiki and Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki start attacking the stadium, Gaara helps the other Kage defend the spectators and get them to safety. Kinshiki and Momoshiki kidnap Naruto, so Gaara joins the other Kage, Sasuke, and Naruto's son, Boruto, in rescuing him. On Momoshiki's Planet, they free Naruto and team up against Momoshiki. Although they briefly defeat him, Momoshiki is able to recover and immobilises the Kage with a stolen Shadow Imitation Technique. Boruto is ultimately able to defeat Momoshiki, allowing everyone to return to Konoha. The Life of a Shinobi In the original Life of a Shinobi RP, Gaara is still the Kazekage 30 years after the events of Shippuden. He appears during Chapters 3-4 where he attends the Chunin Exams in Konohagakure. His biological daughter, Ayano, participates in the tournament and is the current host of the Shukaku. The tournament is cut short as the Akatsuki and The Hidden Cloud Village attack Konoha. Gaara and the current Hokage, Konohamaru, engage in battle with Anon, the Raikage. Anon is incredibly fast, but Gaara and Konohamaru manage to defeat him. The Life of a Shinobi 2 Gaara has yet to appear in this story.